Comforting a Daughter and Unconventional Love Stories
by iwantobemorethanwhoiam
Summary: "How did you fall in love with daddy?"


**A/N: Prompt from Anon on Tumblr: 'Mommy how did you fell in love with daddy?'**

Kate woke to the feel of a little body climbing in her bed then coming over to her, resting hands on her side then laying her head down. Kate turned her head to see her 6 year old daughter, bloodshot eyes, a wet face from tears. She turned her whole body toward her daughter who cuddled against her, her head falling onto her mother's chest. "What's wrong baby?"

"Nightmare."

"What happened in your nightmare?" She rubbed her hand through Lauren's hair.

Through the tears that were starting to fall again, she told Kate what happened. "I heard yelling so I…I came downstairs and you and, and daddy were fighting and yelling….I, I told you guys to stop but you got divorced."

Kate was surprised that her daughter even knew what divorce means. "No, no we will never get divorced, he's just on his book tour, remember?" She felt Lauren nod.

"Hannah, in my class, said her mommy and daddy got divorced cause they were fighting and yelling all the time."

"Do me and daddy yell at each other?"

"No but you guys fight sometimes."

"Everyone fights sometimes, that doesn't mean we don't love each other."

Lauren nodded again then snuggled a little closer. After a few minutes, Kate thought she had fallen asleep and was surprised when she looked up at her. _"How did you fall in love with daddy?"_

"We never told you?" She shook her head. Kate glanced over at the clock on Castle's bedside table; 2:04. She really should have Lauren go back to sleep but it was Saturday so she didn't have school…oh why not. "Well, you know daddy works with me sometimes for his Nikki Heat books?"

"Yeah."

"Well that's how I met him. There was…I had a case that reminded me of one of daddy's old books so I had to bring him to my question room to see if he knew anything about it."

"Did he?"

"No but he did help us with the case and after it was over, I was so happy to get him out of my hair. He didn't listen to me or take my police work seriously. He made Espo and Ryan slack off." Lauren smiled, knowing her dad and uncles. "But the next day, when I got to work, he was there. He talked to the mayor and the mayor said he could follow me for a little bit for his books. After I got to know him better and see that he was more than what I thought he was, he was actually really helpful with my cases. No matter how hard I tried, not matter what happened, no matter how much I hurt him, he always stuck around."

Lauren's eyes got wide, interpreting hurt as being physical. "You hurt daddy?"

"I hurt his heart. We were really bad at talking about the important stuff and we both lied about big things. But in the end I always loved daddy, how he brought me coffee every morning. How he always could make me laugh, even if I was having a really bad day. How he would always protect me, even if he knew he could get hurt."

"What did you lie about?"

She sucked in a breath, was her baby girl ready to hear this? She pulled her tank top down a little to reveal the scar on her chest. "You see this scar?"

"Mhm."

"There was a really bad man, he had done a lot of bad things and he didn't want me to tell anyone so he had someone shoot me but daddy was there. He tried to push me out of the way so I didn't get hurt but he wasn't fast enough so he told me he loved me because he couldn't do anything else…..But after the doctors fixed me and daddy came to see me, I told him I didn't remember he told me he loved me."

"Did you love him?"

"I did, so much but I was scared. I…when my mom died, I was really sad for a long time and I never wanted to feel like that again and I knew I would if daddy and I ever broke up."

"And what did daddy lie about?"

"The man who shot me, he didn't want me to try to figure out what he did. Daddy got a call from a man, we didn't know him, and he said if daddy could make me stay away from the case, I would stay safe and he wouldn't try to hurt me again but daddy never told me about it."

Lauren nodded her head in understanding, and looked like she was thinking pretty hard. "But you never told me how you fell in love with him."

"I don't really know how or when I fell in love with him. We were just friends for a long time then he was my best friend, then I knew I loved him and then we dated for a while then got married and had you," Kate poked her belly, causing her to squirm with laughter, "and Carter." After Lauren's laughs subsided. "And baby, you never have to worry about me and daddy getting a divorce."

"Cause you don't want to be sad?"

"Exactly." Kate smiled.


End file.
